User Support Forum

Hi There,

I'm trying to become my church's "PowerChurch Expert". We have PowerChurchPlus V9 on our network server. I'm off-site at the moment so I'm not sure which Windows version we're using.

My first question: Under the Membership tab/Integrated Data Entry form, there is space for up to three phone numbers. Right now the drop down box choices are "Home Phone" and "Home Fax" in them. How can I add "Cell Phone" to the drop down box?

Second: There is a Bank Deposit Slip form under the Contributions/Reports - Contributions tab. I need to have two separate Bank Deposit Slips so I've been trying to create a Custom Report. I can't figure out how to get a total (sum) of the individual entries.

If I can somehow add a second Bank Deposit Slip report under the Contributions/Reports - Contributions tab, that would be an ideal solution.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Trina wrote:Hi There,

I'm trying to become my church's "PowerChurch Expert". We have PowerChurchPlus V9 on our network server. I'm off-site at the moment so I'm not sure which Windows version we're using.

My first question: Under the Membership tab/Integrated Data Entry form, there is space for up to three phone numbers. Right now the drop down box choices are "Home Phone" and "Home Fax" in them. How can I add "Cell Phone" to the drop down box?

Second: There is a Bank Deposit Slip form under the Contributions/Reports - Contributions tab. I need to have two separate Bank Deposit Slips so I've been trying to create a Custom Report. I can't figure out how to get a total (sum) of the individual entries.

If I can somehow add a second Bank Deposit Slip report under the Contributions/Reports - Contributions tab, that would be an ideal solution.

Thanks in advance for any help!

1: You can add another phone type under the File > Preferences > Family Mailing List options, and the Phone Number Types tab. I believe you have to have Administrator permissions to change this.

2. I don't understand what you mean by needing two separate "Bank Deposit Slips". Could you be more specific ?? Are you making contribution deposits to two separate bank accounts ??

Cell Phone should usually be associated with a person not a family unit. So I would not recommend adding cell phone as an option for a family phone. PowerChurch already has a default phone category in personal profiles for mobile phones.

The three phone numbers shown in integrated data entry should be phone numbers that everyone in the family shares such as the traditional home phone. Phone numbers that are specific to an individual, such as a cell phone, should be entered on that person's personal profile record.

Jeff wrote:Cell Phone should usually be associated with a person not a family unit. So I would not recommend adding cell phone as an option for a family phone. PowerChurch already has a default phone category in personal profiles for mobile phones.

The three phone numbers shown in integrated data entry should be phone numbers that everyone in the family shares such as the traditional home phone. Phone numbers that are specific to an individual, such as a cell phone, should be entered on that person's personal profile record.

I agree Jeff, but we're finding that many families are now using the cell phone as the main home phone. While I understand that you can use the home phone caption for that, some may want a differentiation between the two

I realize that many people are dropping land lines and just using their mobile phones which causes problems with what phone number to call for PhoneTree exports, and you will see some changes in this area in version 12. If this is the case, for now I would recommend creating a family phone type for "main contact"

What I wanted to avoid was a recent set of customers data that had family phone types of "his cell" and "her cell" and a person phone type of "home" and was then complaining that if they needed to change the home phone that they had to change it several different places.

Jeff wrote:I realize that many people are dropping land lines and just using their mobile phones which causes problems with what phone number to call for PhoneTree exports, and you will see some changes in this area in version 12. If this is the case, for now I would recommend creating a family phone type for "main contact"

What I wanted to avoid was a recent set of customers data that had family phone types of "his cell" and "her cell" and a person phone type of "home" and was then complaining that if they needed to change the home phone that they had to change it several different places.

Aha ... I see the reasoning

2. I don't understand what you mean by needing two separate "Bank Deposit Slips". Could you be more specific ?? Are you making contribution deposits to two separate bank accounts ??

Thank you, everyone, for the excellent responses to my phone number question!

To be more clear about bank deposit slips, yes, we have two separate accounts. Right now we have to subtract the monies that go into the second account from the bank deposit slip, which leaves plenty of room for human error. I've tried to make a second deposit slip using custom reports, but I can't figure out how to list each contribution and get the sub-totals for checks and cash, and then get a grand total.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Trina

Trina wrote:

2. I don't understand what you mean by needing two separate "Bank Deposit Slips". Could you be more specific ?? Are you making contribution deposits to two separate bank accounts ??

Thank you, everyone, for the excellent responses to my phone number question!

To be more clear about bank deposit slips, yes, we have two separate accounts. Right now we have to subtract the monies that go into the second account from the bank deposit slip, which leaves plenty of room for human error. I've tried to make a second deposit slip using custom reports, but I can't figure out how to list each contribution and get the sub-totals for checks and cash, and then get a grand total.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Trina

There isn't a way to do this programmatically. If there were a way to separate out the contributions that go into the separate accounts, I would do the first set of contributions, print the report, then do the second set.

However, since you must 'divy' up the money somehow, this could be accomplished. Exactly how do you determine the separate deposit? Is it all cash ?? Is it cash and checks ??

[/quote]There isn't a way to do this programmatically. If there were a way to separate out the contributions that go into the separate accounts, I would do the first set of contributions, print the report, then do the second set.

However, since you must 'divy' up the money somehow, this could be accomplished. Exactly how do you determine the separate deposit? Is it all cash ?? Is it cash and checks ??[/quote]

It's both cash and checks. To further explain, within the two accounts there are funds. All donations go into a fund -- ie, regular tithe, Sunday school, outreach, building maintenance, etc. Account A is all funds from 1 to 24999. Account B is all funds 25000 and up. I wanted the Custom Report maker to list only entries that have fund numbers over 25000, and then to give me the totals, which would eliminate the potential for human error from the process.

I wish we could run one account and then the other, but it isn't possible because many givers write one check and indicate a portion should go to a fund that's in acocunt A, with the remainder going into account B. (Sometimes they're even split three or four ways!) For example, Mary writes a check for $10 with $5 going to fund #1 and $5 going to fund #25000, so $5 goes in account A and $5 in account B. The counters would then put the check into account A and move a different $5 from A into B, since there is no way to split a single check. We don't want to ask givers to write separate checks because it would confuse many of them and perhaps lower contributions to some of the funds. Does that make sense?

My hope was to use the default Bank Deposit Slip for acocunt A and use one I made, with all the accounting done by the program, for account B. As it stands right now, deposits going into account B are subtracted 'by hand' from the account A deposit slip, which means the number of checks, the sum of the checks, the sum of the cash, and the deposit total on the account A deposit slip all change. Then we make a deposit slip by hand for account B. There are many opportunities for confusion and human error. Also, a couple of our counters are not completely comfortable with technology, so whatever I figure out has to be easy to follow, step-by-step.

Sorry this is so long. It's all rather complicated for me to explain, but I hope it's clear.

I think you've actually created more of a problem for yourself and your counters, with the way you're doing it.

Wouldn't it have been easier to do:

1. Create the Contribution Funds with the number series you have setup. (Series A & Series B)
2. Deposit the total contributions into bank account A
3. Then transfer the total amount listed for Series B Contribution Funds, from bank account A, to bank account B .

NeilZ wrote:I think you've actually created more of a problem for yourself and your counters, with the way you're doing it.

Wouldn't it have been easier to do:

1. Create the Contribution Funds with the number series you have setup. (Series A & Series B)
2. Deposit the total contributions into bank account A
3. Then transfer the total amount listed for Series B Contribution Funds, from bank account A, to bank account B .

Yes, that makes more sense. I don't know why that wasn't an option (this was in place before I ever joined the team). I will find out on Tuesday and post an update. It would certainly be easier to do things that way. Thanks!

Trina wrote:

NeilZ wrote:I think you've actually created more of a problem for yourself and your counters, with the way you're doing it.

Wouldn't it have been easier to do:

1. Create the Contribution Funds with the number series you have setup. (Series A & Series B)
2. Deposit the total contributions into bank account A
3. Then transfer the total amount listed for Series B Contribution Funds, from bank account A, to bank account B .

Yes, that makes more sense. I don't know why that wasn't an option (this was in place before I ever joined the team). I will find out on Tuesday and post an update. It would certainly be easier to do things that way. Thanks!

Trina,
For what it's worth, Neil's suggestion is exactly the way our church manages contributions that go into different bank accounts. It makes life so much simpler!

Best wishes,
Eden

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the break in posts. Life sometimes gets in the way!

Our accountant says one account is strictly for 'income' and the other is strictly for
'donations' and can't be co-mingled at anytime, therefore, we must have two separate deposits. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but oh well.... I'm going to try to develop custom reports that will generate the information needed without actually printing a useable deposit slip. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. This forum is a great support tool!

Trina

Trina wrote:Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the break in posts. Life sometimes gets in the way!

Our accountant says one account is strictly for 'income' and the other is strictly for
'donations' and can't be co-mingled at anytime, therefore, we must have two separate deposits. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but oh well.... I'm going to try to develop custom reports that will generate the information needed without actually printing a useable deposit slip. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. This forum is a great support tool!

Trina

I don't know who your accountant is, but that does NOT sound right. Income is Income !! We use one checking account to track all our income, and we then move funds out of that account, into other asset accounts as needed.

FWIW ... most church income is donations. You may have other income, through a church bookstore, rental property, and so on. That type of income should not be tracked through the Contributions module.

I'm sure someone will jump in here who has more knowledge on this.